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Macedonian Companies Call For Help
Skopje | 03 July 2009 |
Macedonia's landmark metal industry has suffered the most from the economic downturn
Without direct support from the government, who should immediately raise €700 million to €1 billion from abroad to salvage the country's ailing economy, the picture is grim, Zlatko Kalenikov, the chairman of the Association of Chambers of Commerce, wrote in a letter to Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski.
Kalenikov warns that many firms can no longer guarantee payments of taxes and wages and that they are considering lay-offs.
The businessmen asked for additional changes to the state’s budget to include more development projects that would engage the home economy in times of low demand. They called for support to boost exports and direct assistance to the economy.
Amid shrinking revenues, the budget has already gone through a nine per cent cut.
Macedonia last month borrowed €100 million from the European Investment Bank. The loan, which should be made available in the following months, is intended to release fresh funds to small and medium-sized businesses as demand shrinks for their products.
The country is still not decided whether it will ask for a deal with the International Monetary Fund, something that many local economic experts suggest it should do.
The government, although forecasting minimal economic growth of one percent this year, has seen the economy shrink in the first months of 2009, a trend which shows no signs of stopping. The International Monetary Fund is more pessimistic and predicts minus two percent by the end of the year.
(Reporting by Sinisa- Jakov Marusic)
